Laura S. of Los Angeles won her husband a free Steelcase Drafting chair, like the one pictured here, from The Human Solution.

Our second free Steelcase Think Chair contest winner is Laura S. of Los Angeles. Laura tells the sad but hilarious tale of how her then-fiancé ruined his back. The good news is that her now-husband’s back is feeling better, though he still experiences pain when seated at his architect’s desk for long hours. Kevin, we hope your brand new Think Drafting Chair does what you need it to do.

From Laura’s entry:

My Baby Got Back (Pains) – As a newlywed, my husband’s back hasn’t been the same since getting engaged a year and a half ago. You probably think you know where I’m going with this, but think again …

It all started a little over one year ago on January 26, 2012. That was the day Kevin, my now husband, asked me to marry him. When I accepted his surprise proposal, we celebrated in the way only two young lovers could: by heading to an indoor trampoline park! Yes, my husband is a 12-year-old at heart, which is how I knew he was “The One” as I’m still just a 10-year-old at heart (he’ll be pissed when he finds out my inner child is younger than his!).

To clarify: an indoor trampoline park basically consists of dozens of trampolines pieced together like the patches of a quilt to make for the ultimate jumping extravaganza. This place would have anyone bouncing off the walls — literally. Still elated from my acceptance of his proposal, Kevin jumped for joy from trampoline to trampoline. However, as we bounced our way through this indoor playground, Kevin became more and more leery of all the children jumping around him. Little ones were in front of us, behind us, and at both sides — it was like we were about to be mangled by munchkins!

These kids had no fear, and were definitely not worried about crashing into Kevin or I! That’s when Kevin’s inner 12-year-old collided with his outer thirty-something. He got nervous, tightened up his entire body with anxiety, and came down on two feet to a fully stretched, bottomed-out trampoline. There was no stretch left to save his impact and a chilling pain went straight up through every vertebra in Kevin’s spine. His back was ruined. The rest of the evening (filled with my rubbing his back and changing out his heating pad every hour) was anything but romantic!

Thanks to quite a few massages, yoga classes, and hours spent stretching his back, Kevin is nearly good as new; however, Kevin uses a high architect’s desk in his office and the simple metal stool he uses consistently threatens to hinder his recovery. Every day when Kevin sits at his computer, he is reminded of that terrible moment on the trampoline when every vertebra in his back felt as though it were shattered.

I wish I could say that his back pains were due to something much more intriguing, but alas, his story is simply that of a thirty-something man who refuses to grow up. Perhaps you could award him with one of your amazing Steelcase Think Drafting Chairs — a truly marvelous design made for a mature, sophisticated man — so that he may finally become an adult (or at least pretend to be one)!

Kevin is a huge fan of Steelcase and has wanted one for years but unfortunately it’s a bit out of our budget (still paying for that wedding!) but he is an amazing man and I can’t think of anyone who deserves it more.

If Kevin were to own a Steelcase Think Chair, I know that any back pains he endures in the future could only be attributed to living happily ever after as a newlywed … And if that was the case, it really wouldn’t be such a bad thing after all, would it?! I think not!

Mitch was a neophyte to ergonomics two years ago, but he quickly graduated to “ergo expert” status. He enjoys keeping his monitor arms at eye level, his keyboard tray in his lap, and because he is tall, he tends to lean back in his chair while working. He specializes in keyboard trays and finding the solutions for his fellow tall folk. Outside of the office, he enjoys film, reading, writing and eating healthily most of the time, so he can gorge himself on enchiladas and hot wings some of the time. He attempts to live by Ralph Waldo Emerson’s advice that, “A foolish consistency is hobgoblin to little minds,” but not always, because that would also be foolishly consistent.